Transparent Goby

Family Gobiidae

REMARKS Maximum length 5 or 6 cm. This tiny fish belongs to the family of gobies (see the preceding entry) and is presented here by itself since it is unusual in being virtually without colour. This circumstance has led to its being given the rather absurd name ‘pellucid sole’ by some authors.

Anne and Helen Caruana Galizia, in their excellent book Recipes from Malta, lament that these tiny gobies are now rather rare in the island, but give instructions for making them into fritters in the Maltese style – Fritturi Tal-makku. The fish are washed in a colander, drained and left to dry on absorbent paper, then simply coated with beaten egg and fried, a handful at a time, in hot oil until they are golden brown. They are served with lemon wedges.